Good morning, Torontonians! It’s a beautiful day outside. Not too hot yet, and beautiful blue skies.

Here’s your traffic and transport rundown for Friday. Don’t forget you can check the Friday Protest Update for information about protests.

Traffic-wise, we’re going to be seeing lots of major artery closures of roads today (due to motorcades– see below), but downtown the first march starts at 2:30 at Allan Gardens (Carlton/Sherbourne) so I think we’re safe until around then.

Motorcades are upon us. This is going to mean 427, 401, QEW, Gardiner and Don Valley Pkwywill be periodically closed. Generally speaking, all the roads from the airport to downtown are subject to closures.

Pearson Airport, of course, is going to be completely nuts. Expect flight delays, road delays, terminal delays and any other kind of delay you can think of and get there early.

Protests centre on Allan Gardens (Carlton/Sherbourne) today and will probably take in the major roads in the downtown core, we’re talking Yonge, Bay, University, Queen, Spadina, College etc. People are gathering at 2:30 which means they might move out 3o mins. later onto these roads. Yesterday’s protest numbered in the thousands so expect full road closures, esp. on smaller roads like Yonge.

The TTC is half empty! This is great news for commuters, who could finally get a seat on a Friday morning. However, it is not 100% reliable: an abandoned suitcase or purse can close a station or a chunk of track. Protests on College and Queen will back up streetcars. There are also route diversions affecting Bay, Pape, Yonge and Kingston Road. Spadina and Harbourfront routes are normal except for no stop at Queen’s Quay.

GO Transit is up and running today and over the weekend. However, Union Station entrance access is limited to the Bay Street entrance (and York Street heading south). If you usually travel through Union on the GO Train you will need to disembark at Union and get on a new train to continue.

Via Trains are running, but they are not going to Union. If your ticket takes you to Union, you will be able to get off your Via train and catch a continuing Go Train at Oakville, Oshawa, Brampton and Oriole to get there.

TTC and walking is a good bet for getting around the downtown core, although people seem happy with the quiet roads. However, remember, if you’re going near the fence and the secure zone there are special police powers down there just outside the fence. You will likely be stopped and asked for ID like these young men. Familiarize yourself with this modified law!

That’s all for now. More throughout the day! Enjoy your quiet, police-filled city, Toronto.

— Torontoite

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I'm a resident of downtown Toronto wanting make things simple for other downtown residents during the G20.
Everything available here is public knowledge available on the internet.